Power meters are used by utility companies for measuring and providing a readout for the quantity of electricity that has been used in a commercial or residential establishment. Conventionally, if a person, such as a homeowner, wanted to monitor energy consumption, then the person would physically go outside to the location of the power meter to read the power meter. This process is labor intensive, can be subject to human error and in certain circumstances may not be safe for the person. Accordingly, there is a movement towards automatic power meter readers that integrate the capability of measuring the amount of electricity and communicating the measurement to the utility company using either wired or wireless signal transmission. However, automatic power meter readers are generally limited to newer power meter installations. Consequently, there is a need for a power meter reader that can be retrofitted to the various types of existing power meters.
Automatic power meter readers are typically retrofitted to existing power meters and are typically connected to the power lines power to obtain power. However, it would be more convenient to use one or more batteries for a power source; i.e. the automatic power meter reader would be easier to install since no connections to a power source would have to be made. Unfortunately, the operations that are carried out by the automatic power meter readers, such as detecting the rotation of the power meter disk and transmitting information related to power consumption of the structure are power hungry operations that would result in the frequent replacement of the batteries. This is inefficient and cumbersome. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a power meter reader that operates in an efficient manner for prolonging battery lifetime.
Another common issue for power utility companies is dealing with unsatisfied consumers who complain about their high electric bills. What is needed is technology that allows a consumer to know how much electricity they are consuming, in dollars and cents or kilowatt-hours, and how much their electric bill will be at the end of the month. The consumers can use the feedback on the amount of electricity that they are using to reduce high electric bills. There is also a growing pressure to increase energy efficiency, conserve energy resources and reduce atmospheric pollution. This can be achieved with increased consumer awareness of the amount of energy that they are consuming. In fact, studies show that energy savings of up to 15% or more is possible when consumers get enough information to make meaningful decisions about energy consumption.